Four Day Clay Plaster Workshop, Romania July 11th - 16th 2024

This summer, deep in the heart of the beautiful Romanian countryside, I'll be running a special one-off clay plaster workshop. Earthen plaster, or clay plaster, is one of the most useful and satisfying skills you can learn. When you've understood how each material in the plaster works, you'll be able to:

• Plaster a mud home naturally.
  
• Create beautiful earth sculptures.
• Make simple earth/cob sculptures like ovens, alcoves and shelves.
• Use mud as mortar.
• Render a stone/brick/breeze block wall.
• and more...

Four Day Earthen Plaster Workshop in Baile Chirui, Romania.
July 11th-16th 2024

Price: £250 for the four day workshop + your room and board price for 5 nights (see price list below).

Room options (all with full board. Meals are simple vegetarian).
+£105: Basic shared room* (price per person).
+£155: Basic room*, single occupancy.
+£200: Comfy shared room** (price per person).
+ £300: Comfy room, single occupancy**.

Like camping? Tents are welcome too: Price is £90 for 3 meals a day throughout the course.

Price includes:

• 5 nights accommodation. (11th until the morning of the 16th). Choose either the basic* or the standard accommodation**.
• Breakfast, lunch and evening meal (vegetarian food).
• Four days clay plaster course (starts Friday morning and finishes Monday evening).

Where? This is a beautiful spot in the Romanian countryside called Baile Chirui. The nearest train station is Miercurea Ciuc. It's a quiet place of natural beauty. We'll be hosted by Kamilla and you can see more the place where the course is held here.
When? July 12th-15th 2024. You will arrive one day earlier on the 11th and have evening meal included and leave one day later on the 16th after breakfast (also included).

Course dates and times:
Thursday afternoon/evening: Arrival day
Friday morning: Course begins.
Saturday: Course
Sunday: Course
Monday: Course.
Tuesday morning: Leaving day.

What will you learn?

• Where to find clay and turn it into a usable material.
• How to test your dirt.
• How to mix earthen or clay plaster for the best results.
• What each ingredient in the plaster does.
• The difference between clay plaster and cob.
  
• How to add the various layers when rendering.
• How to repair and maintain the plaster.
• How to use a Japanese trowel (and other trowels too).
• How to use sponges to create amazing finishes.
  
• Techniques for sculpting the plaster into...well anything!
• How to embed things like mirrors or tile into the plaster.

We'll be learning and practicing these skills by plastering a wall of a building, and hopefully turn it into something more attractive. In the process, we'll be lauching Kamilla (the host) on her natural building journey. This is a beautiful spot in the heartland of Transylvania where some of Europe's last remaining ancient forests survive, so I'm passionate about sowing the seeds for mud building in the area.

Accommodation:
* Basic accommodation is in a simple room with a bed, shared shower with limited hot water, and outside composting toilet.

** Guest house accommodation is a comfortable room with shared bathroom in nice guest house near the workshop grounds. There is a hot shower, and normal toilet in a house. Of course, if there are no other guests at the house, it will feel almost like you have a private house for yourself. (The accommodation is called Kiruly Gyöngye, and you can see pictures of the rooms and house here).

Food is simple vegetarian.

Travel Details
Closest airports: Brasov, Bucuresti (international name Bucharest).
Other options: Targu Mures, Sibiu, Budapest.

The host can pick you up for 22 Euros per car from the train station in Miercurea Ciuc (the closest town). Trains are both cheap and frequent in Romania. You can buy tickets and see all routes here. Otherwise you can rent a car at the major airports quite cheaply, which may be a good idea if you’d like to explore this beautiful area.

Other Information
This is a hands on course, so you will get dirty:)  More specific details on what to bring will be sent to course participants once they enroll.

If you have any questions, or need more information, just email Atulya at: atulyakbingham@themudhome.com

WATCH WHAT YOU CAN MAKE WITH CLAY PLASTER HERE